
/\ SkfcUlrv of 



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pT-ITI^S, 



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W Its Attractions as a Summer Resort- 
rf A Visit to the Shakers — History 

of the Town — Columbia 
Hall--Railroad 
Guide, &c. 




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©AWiai ©ASB, 



(Formerly of Fort William Henry Hotel, Lake 
Grorge,) 



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X872. 



beg to announce that since I purchased 
the Columbia Hall property, (September, 
1871,) I have been making extensive al- 
terations and repairs, and for the benefit of 
those who have visited the Springs, would 
state that the front of the house was changed 
in 18t0 from east to south, new piazzas put 
up, a new Bath House built, complete in all 



Columbia Hall. 



its appointments, refurnished man}' of the 
rooms, and put in the house all the requisites 
I to make it a 

plF[SY-CL^,SS lh|l©JlL 

in every respect. I have at work a Land- 
scape Gardener, thoroughly educated to his 
business, beautifying and ornamenting the 
grounds, which now compose about 

With the proverbially health}^ locality, nat- 
ural advantages and improvements, we de- I 
sign making Lebanon Springs one of the 

IN THT: COTNTJiY. 



This Hotel has 



j^nn^lc "^rconimotlationf for jFour |lundrc(l |)ucst5. 
Open from June 1st to October^ 1st. 



Columbia Hall, 



Drives, Walks, Bowling, Hunting, Fishing, 
Billiards, 8lc. 

I have erected a new building this year for 

three of Messrs. Kavanagh & Decker's ''A" 

j No. 1 first-class Billiard Tables, and new 

Bowling Alleys, and made three fine lawns 

for Croquet. 

In connection with the Hotel is a good liv- 
er}^, where horses and carriages can be found ; 
also ample accommodations for private car- 
riages and horses. 

Prof. Gikseman's Band, from New York 
City, will be in attendance throughout the 
season. 

The Western Union Telegraph Co. have an 
office in the building. 



A stand is kept in the Hotel, where books, 
periodicals, and daily papers, may be found. 



Lebanon Springs. 







COLUMBIA COUNTY, N. Y. 



^PhIS village contains three Hotels. 
'"^^;^i Columbia Hall, a large and magnifi- 
^'^^'^Pcent Hotel, of which Daniel Gale is 
proprietor, is situated on the slope of the hill 
about three hundred feet above the valley, 
and one thousand feet above tide water. — 
Wyomanock House, a branch of Columbia 
Hall, W. F. Gale, proprietor, open the year 
round, directly opposite Columbia Hall. — 
Fields' Hotel, John G. Fields, proprietor, 
open the year round, situated in the valley, 
all of w^hich have good accommodations ; 



Lebanon Springs 



besides three stores, Kendall's Thermometer 
and Barometer manufactories, Baptist, Epis- 
copal, Catholic and Presbyterian Churches, 
but a short distance from the Springs. 

The Scenery, which characterizes this spot, 
is of almost indescribable beauty, being so 
diversified by Mountain and Valley Land- 
scape, as to elicit the most unbounded admi- 
ration of the beholder. The general remark 
of travelers has been, that no prospect they 
had ever seen could bear a comparison with it. 

Its healthfulness, also, is proverbial, con- 
ducive of which is the pure Mountain air, the 
Mineral Spring, beautiful drives, Hunting and 
Fishing, and the usual variety of local amuse- 
ments. 

Before the Revolution the efficacy of the 
water began to excite great interest, and 
many families from different cities have be- 
come so much attached to the place that they 
have made it their summer home for more 
than twenty consecutive years. The hill- 
slopes which guard the valley present eligible 
sites for cottages. 

Not more than five hours at the most, and 
the New^ York passenger will find himself at 
the depot, a short distance from the " Hall." 
The completion of the Harlem Extension 



Lebanon Springs. 



Railroad renders it easy of access. There is 
no change of cars, and a person is in no dan- 
ger of losing his connection's, his friends, or 
his baggage. Standing on the piazza, we look 
over the Lebanon Valley, bounded on the east 
by the Berkshire hills, on the south and west 
by the West Range. To the northwest the 
valley reaches away in fertile beauty to the 
pleasant village of Nassau, on the road to 
Albany. Maple Hill, to the southeast, rises 
with an easy slope from the clustering hamlet 
at our feet, and a mile distant lies the village 
of New Lebanon. The W^^omanock Creek, 
(its name of Lidian origin,) flows through the 
valley, blending its waters with the Kinder- 
hook on its way to the Pludson. It seems to 
be " shut in by hills from the rude world" — 
and a poetic quiet rests over this picture in 
repose like that which (in our imagination) 
rested upon the halls of Merrie England. It 
seems to carry one back to the days of Spen- 
ser, when nature found true worshippers in 
verse : or still further back to the Augustan 
age, when the Campagna was a garden in- 
stead of a desert, and pastoral poetry was 
quoted in the palaces of the Caesars. From 
the days of " Queechy" to the visit of Sir 
Henry Vincent, a little more than a year ago. 



Lebanon Springs. 



every writer lias been enthusiastic in speak- 
ing of this lovely section. Vincent, in his 
letter, says: " Hiils, mountains, valleys, 
trees, gardens, farm-houses, and farms spread 
around and above you in ever-varying beauty, 
reminding one of the hills and valleys of 
Langollen in Wales." And you remember in 
Miss Warner's "Queechy" a fine description 
of the view from one of the neighboring hills. 
" They (Fleda and Carleton) had reached a 
height of the mountain that cleared them a 
view, and over the tops of the trees they 
looked afbroad to a very wide extent of coun- 
try undulating with hill and vale — hill and 
i valle}^ alike far below at their feet. Fair and 
j rich the gently swelling hills, one beyond an- 
! other in the patchwork dress of their many- 
: colored fields — the gay hues of the woodland, 
softened and melted into a rich autumn glow 
I — and far away beyond even where this glow 
was softened and lost in the distance, the 
faint blue line of the Catskills, faint but clear 
and distinct through the transparent air. And 
such a sky ! Of such etherealized purity as 
if made for spirits to travel in, and tempting 
them to rise and free themselves from the 
soil ; and stillness — like nature's hand laid 
upon the soul, bidding it think." Little Fledu 



8 Lebanon Springs. 



at Montepoo.le takes one far back into the his- 
tory of Lebanon when the old sycamore cast 
a smaller shadow ; when stages and coaches 
connected with tide-water at Albanj^ ; when 
Irving was the wandering Knickerbocker of 
the Hudson, writing at old Kinderhook, at 
the house of his friend Mr. Van Ness, the 
history of New York. 

It hardly seems possible that in the year 
1770 a town pauper declared that he would 
not put a brush fence about the valley to have 
been its owner. The whole valley was an 
immense pine forest, some of the trees being 
two hundred feet in height. It is said that a 
man by the name of Hitchcock, from New 
Haven, stuck a riding stick into the spring. 
It has now grown into one of the tinest syca- 
mores in the world. 

Montepoole, or "Columbia Hall," has pro- 
gressed with a steady growth, and now it has 
almost a half mile of verandas. The Moun- 
tain Bower, on Prospect Hill, is completed. 
It is located to the west of the Hall, and one 
hundred feet above it. It is about half way 
to the Pinnacle, which, at the height of three 
hundred feet, overlooks the valley. If the 
beauty of the landscape which from every 
point meets and focalizes itself in the soul as 



Lebanon Springs. 



we stand on this eminence, could be written in 
words or impressed on electrotype plates, it 
might be worth while, but not understanding 
the art of spiritual photography, we can only 
say, in the words of Goldsmith, '' Every 
breeze breathes health, and every sound is 
but the echo of tranquility ;'' or, in older 
English, we would lead you 

" To painted flowers, to trees upsliooting hye, 
To dales for shade, to liills for breathing space, 
To trembling groves, and chrystall running by." 

T^ Persons desiring to apply for rooms by 
letter or telegraph, will please address the 
Proprietor, 

DA\NiEL QA,LE, 

Lebanon Springs, Columbia Co., N. Y. 




10 



The Spring. 




TlHji Sp^jjNjq 



fllE Thermal Spring is enclosed in the 
court-yard of the Hotel. It discharges 
J constantly nearly five hundred gallons of 
water per minute, of the temperature of Y3* 
F., and supplies a bathing house within the 
enclosure. These baths are a luxury to all 
who partake of them, and are especially rec- 
ommended by physicians as a specific in many 
diseases, and have been found as efficacious 
as the warm medicinal Springs of Germany 
and Virginia, for the complaints for which 
they are visited. 

Analysis ot Lebanon Springs Water, by Prof. H, Dussauce. 



FOUND IN ONE GALLON OF WATER. 



GASES. 

Oxygen, 2 00 cubic inches Carbonic Acid. 

Nitrogen,. . .3 50 " Sulphuric Acid, 



.0 50 cubic inches. 



The Spring. H 



FIXED MATTERS. 

Snlphuret of Sodium 0.02 grains— 1.298 per ct. 

Carbonate of Soda, 2 41 " 15 649 " 

Sulphate of Putash, 1-04 " 6,53 

Chloride of Sodium 96 " b.2.33 

Carbonate of Lime, 4 05 " 26 292 ' 

Sulphate of Magnesia, 106 " 6.8W 

Alumina 45 " 2629 - 

Oxide of Iron, 94 " ^6 lOd 

Silicic Acid, 



21.100 " 

^ ^ , Glarine 0.75 " 4.870 " 

Org. Comp. ^ Baregine, 947 " 2 190 " 

15.40 100.000 

Many eminent physicians, acquainted with 
its properties, have recommended its use for 
the following, viz : Eczema, Flesh Poisoning, 
Impetigo, many varieties of Erysipelas, Scald 
Head, Cutaneous Diseases generally. Arthri- 
tis, Morbid Conditions of the Liver, Consti- 
pation, Dyspepsia, Chronic and Inflammatory 
Rheumatism, Bronchia, and Nervous Diseases 
generally. 

A resident Physician of high standing in 
the profession, will render his service when 
desired. 




12 



Bath House. 





'<wiai^ 



AvTHj HJo^ses 




tHE Bath House is a new brick building, 
just completed, located in the Court Yard 
J of the Hotel, 8t feet long by 32 feet wide, 
with French roof. The ladies part of the 
house contains a reception room, nine apart- 
ments with both hot and natural spring water 
baths, swimming bath, and swimming bath 
for children. The gentlemen's building con- 
tains ten apartments, with both hot and natu- 
ral spring water baths, and a swimming bath 
30 feet long. All the inside arrangements are 
modern and of the most approved kind. With 
the well known invigorating qualities of the 
water for bathing, together with having so 
great a luxury convenient to the hotel, and 
the benefit visitors receive by bathing in the 
water, it will amply repay them for taking a 
trip to Lebanon Springs. 



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14 Drives. 





^HE DRIVES in the neighborhood of the 
i\ .Springs are unsurpassed by any watering 
J place in the country, whether it be along 
the beautiful valley roads leading to Nassau, 
to Queechy Lake, and to William stown, 
Mass., or surmounting the hills and moun- 
tains which encompass the place in almost 
every direction, where new beauties open to 
the view with every mile. The ride from 
Lebanon to Pittsfield, over the Taghkanick 
mountain, is unsurpassed for beauty and mag- 
nificence, whether by the old post road from 
Boston to Albany, or by way of the Lebanon 
and Hancock Shaker villages. At every turn 
in the ascent, new beauties burst upon the 
enraptured traveler's view ; and on the sum- 
mit the country sixty miles in extent presents 
itself like a map at the feet of the beholder. 
Here in a clear da}^ the distant Catskills may 
be seen from the Hildeberghs west of Albany, 
to the Sugar Loaf far below Catskill village. 
From many points the Catskill Mountain 



Drives. 15 



House can be plainly seen with the naked 
eye, and stretches of the Hudson River 
traced, with steamers and sail vessels passing 
upon its waters. From a point a little dis- 
tance from the highway, a good view of the 
upper part of the City of Albany can be seen, 
and with a good glass the buildings can be 
easily recognized. Perry's Peak, a station 
of the U. S. Coast Survey, lies within two 
hours drive from the hotel, and is frequently 
visited in the summer. Here an uninter- 
rupted view can be made across the State of 
Connecticut to Long Island Sound. Doug- 
lass and Churchill knobs are also lofty eleva- 
tions, sometimes visited, jet not so easily 
surmounted, but a view from their summits 
amply pays for the labor of their ascent. 
But the splendid drives in every direction, 
over good roads with more gentle grades, 
will satisfy most of those who love diversified 
and beautiful scenery, and who have not suf- 
ficient po^^/Zc ardor to climb the rugged moun- 
tain in order to see more. 

DISTANCES. 

Qaeechy Lake, 6 miles. Sh-iker Village, 2 miles. 

Fittstield, 7 " B. Y. Shakers ;•••- " 

Lt;nox, 12 " Summit Berkshire Moun- 

Stockbri'dge, 12 '' tains, -3 "' 

Canaan, 7 '' WiUiamstown 20 ' 

New Lebanon, 2 " Mt. Washington, 18 '' 

Hancock 5 " , Gt. Barringtun, 21 



16 



The Shakers. 




TljjE SlHiAkEE^ 



;E|pHE largest Society in America of that 
^^^1 religious sect known as the Shakers, 
^f f!^\s located within two miles of the 
Springs. They are visited annually by thou- 
sands of strangers, who take great interest 
in their peculiar manner of living and wor- 
ship. Visitors are received into their various 
workshops and gardens, throughout the week, 
and are admitted to their church meetings on 
the Sabbath. 

This Society is the largest in the United 
States. They number some six hundred per- 
sons, and have possessions of some six thou- 
sand acres of land, devoted to farming pur- 
poses, gardens for seeds and fruits, &c., which 
are everywhere famed for their quality. 

A visit to this Society alone to attend their 



The Shakers. ^7 



worship on the Sabbath, and to possess arti- 
cles of their workmanship, which are unique 
and useful, amply repays the visitor. 

Sir Henry Vincrnt, the English Orator, 
writes: ''Let me urge upon divines and 
scholars, in their rambles through America, i 
: to visit the Shaker community at Mount Leb- 
anon, and if they are disposed to inquire, 
' How can these things be V my answer is, 
' Gome and see.' " 

Prof. SiLLiMAN says : " The utmost neatness 
is conspicuous in their fields, gardens, court- 
yards, out-houses, and in the very road ; not 
a weed, not a spot of filth, or any nuisance, 
is suffered to exist. Their wood is cut and 
piled in the most exact order ; their fences are 
perfect . even their stone walls are con- 
structed with great regularity, and of mate- 
rials so very massive, and so well arranged, 
that unless overthrown by force, they may 
stand for centuries. Instead of wooden posts 
for their gates, they have pillars of stone of 
one solid piece, and everything bears the im- 
press of labor, vigilance and skill, with such 
a share of taste as is consistent with the aus- 
terities of their sect. Their orchards are 
beautiful, and probably no part of our coun- 
try presents finer examples of agricultural 



18 The Shakers. 



excellence. Such neatness and order is not 
seen anywhere on so large a scale, except in 
Holland, where the very necessities of exis- 
tence impose order and neatness upon the 
whole population ; but here it is voluntary. 

Besides agriculture, it is well known that 
the Shakers occupy themselves much with 
mechanical employments. The productions 
of their industry and skill — sieves, brushes, 
boxes, pails and other domestic utensils — are 
everywhere exposed for sale, and are distin- 
guished by excellence of workmanship. Their 
garden seeds are celebrated for goodness, and 
find a ready market. They have many gar- 
dens, but there is a principal one of several 
acres, which exhibits superior cultivation. 

Their females are employed in domestic 
manufactures and housework, and the com- 
munity is fed and clothed by its own produc- 
tions. The property is all in common. The 
avails of the general industry are poured into 
the treasury of the whole ; individual wants 
are supplied from a common magazine or 
store-house, which is kept for each family, 
and ultimately, the elders invest the gains in 
lands and buildings, or sometimes in money, 
or other personal property, which is held for 
the good of the Society. It seems somewhat 



The Shakers. 19 



paradoxical to speak of a family, where the 
relation upon which it is founded is unknown. 
But still, the Shakers are assembled in what 
they call families, which consist of little col- 
lections (more or less numerous according to 
the size of the house) of males and females, 
who occup3^ separate apartments, under the 
same roof, eat at separate tables, but mix oc- 
casionally for society, labor, or worship. — 
There is a male and a female head to the fam- 
ily, who superintend all their concerns — give 
out their provisions — ^allot their employments, 
and enforce industry and fidelity. They pro- 
fess, it is said, to believe that Christ has al- 
ready appeared the second time on the earth, 
in the person of their great leader. Mother 
Ann Lee, and that the saints are now judging 
the world. 

This singular people took their rise in En- 
gland nearly a century ago, and the settle- 
ment at New Lebanon is of more than sixty 
years' standing. They first emigrated to 
America in the year 1*774, under their spiritual 
mother, Ann Lee, a niece of the celebrated 
Gen. Charles Lee, who made a distinguished 
figure during the American Revolutionary 
War. The order, neatness, comfort and tlirift, 
which are conspicuous among them, are 



20 The Shakers. 



readily accounted for, by their industry, econ- 
om}^, self-denial and devotion to their leaders, 
and to the common interest, all of which are 
religious duties among them, and, the very 
fact that they are, for the most part, not bur- 
dened with the care of children, leaves them 
greatly at liberty to follow their occupations 
without interruption. They walk to the meet- 
ing-house, in order, two and two, and leave it 
in the same order. Men enter the left hand 
door of the meeting-house, and women the 
right hand. In each dwelling-house is a room 
called the meeting-room, in which they assem- 
ble for worship every evening. The young 
believers assemble morning and evening, and, 
in tlie afternoon of the Sabbath, they all as- 
semble in one of these rooms, in their dwel- 
ling-house, to which meeting spectators, or 
those who do not belong to the Society, are 
not admitted, except friendly visitors. Their 
houses are well calculated and convenient. 
In the great house at Lebanon there is over a 
hundred ; the men live in their several apart- 
ments on the right, as they enter into the 
house, and the women on the left, commonly 
four in a room. They kneel in the morning 
by the side of the bed, as soon as they arise, 
and the same before they lie down ; also be- 



The Shakers. 21 



fore and after every meal. The brethren and 
sisters generally eat at the same time at two 
long tables placed in the kitchen, men at one 
and women at the other ; during which time 
they sit on benches, and all are silent. They 
go to their meals walking in order, one di- 
rectly after the other ; the head of the family, 
or elder, takes the lead of the men, and one 
called elder sister takes the lead of the wo- 
men. Several women are employed in cook- 
ing and waiting on the table ; they are com- 
monly relieved weekly by others. 

It is according to the gift or order, for all 
to endeavor to keep all things in order ; indo- 
lence and carelessness, they say, is directly 
opposite to the gospel and order of God ; 
cleanliness in every respect is strongly en- 
forced — it is contrary to order even to spit on 
the floor. A dirty, careless, slovenly or indo- 
lent person, they say, cannot travel in the 
way of God, or be religious. It is contrary 
to order to talk loud, to shut doors hard, to 
rap at a door for admittance, or to make a 
noise in any respect ; even when walking the 
floor, they must be careful not to make a 
noise with their feet. They go to bed at nine 
or ten o'clock, and rise at four or five ; all 
that are in health go to work about sun-rise, 



22 The Shakers. 



in-door mechanics, in the winter, work by 
candle-light ; each one follows such an em- 
ployment as the deacon appoints for him. 
Every man and woman must be employed, 
and work steadily and moderately. When 
any are sick they have the utmost care and 
attention paid to them. When a man is sick, 
if there is a woman among the sisters, who 
was his wife before he believed, she, if in 
health, nurses and waits upon him. If any 
of them transgress the rules and orders of the 
Church, they are not held in union until they 
confess their transgression, and that often on 
their knees before the brethren and sisters. 

Each Church in the different settlements 
has a house called the office, where all busi- 
ness is transacted either among themselves or 
with other people. Each family deposit in 
the office all that is to be spared for charita- 
ble purposes, which is distributed by the dea- 
con to those whom he judges to be proper 
objects of charity. He never sends the poor 
and needy empty away.'' 



New Lebanon. 



23 





A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



:;^4 

) T ^ S there anything in a name ! New 
W^^^ Lebanon can boast of having an an- 
^^^^Icient Hebrew name, which has been 
always celebrated in the anisils of sacred his- 
tory. Among the states having townships 
called Lebanon, are Alabama, Connecticut, 
Illinois, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Vir- 
ginia ; while New York has two such town- 
ships. Of the names of early settlers of the 
Lebanon to which this notice refers, are those 
of Abbot, Adgate, Bailey, Bradley, Cole, 
Cornwell, Dean, Doubleday, Everest, Gay, 
Gilbert, Gillet, Grant, Hatch, Hitchcock, 



24 ISiew Lebanon, 



Horton, Jones, King, Murdock, Owen, Pat- 
terson, — the not unromantic Peter Plum, — 
Spencer, Tilden, Van Deusen, Wadhams, 
Warner and Younglove. To this alphabeti- 
cal list may be added, — though out of its 
place, — that of Douglass, borne here by a 
family of Scotch descent, and boasting a long 
line of noble ancestors. The name of War- 
ner will always be honorably associated with 
the fame of the accomplished author of 
'' Queechy." With the name of Gillet is hap- 
pily associated one who, at " Wyomanock" 
and " Sunnyside," is known by a pet house- 
hold name, which he has nobly gained by be- 
ing the " good friend'' to all with whom he 
has there met, and by kindly assisting those 
little favored by fortune, to gain a knowledge 
of books which otherwise they would have 
been unable to*procure. Abner Doubleday 
was the grandfather of Gen. Abner Double- 
day, of Fort Sumter fame. He and Jonathan 
Murdock were of those who constituted the 
"forlorn hope" at the storming of Stoney 
Point. Moses Younglove was a member of 
the convention to form a constitution of the 
State of New York. Many of the descend- 
ants of the afore-named persons still live 
among us as respected citizens. 



New Lebanon. 25 



The first white man permanently settled in 
the old town of Canaan, was doubtless named 
Warner. He came from New England thro' 
the gap in the mountains at West Stock- 
bridge. Probably the first white man who 
ever visited New Lebanon, was Capt. Hitch- 
cock of the British army, which was stationed 
at Hartford, Conn., about the time of the close 
of the French war. Capt. H. being afflicted 
with some severe and dangerous malady, was 
recommended to visit the valley and use the 
waters of the thermal spring in this town. 
He came with one servant and a company of 
Indian guides, and was carried from Stock- 
bridge to the Springs on a litter by an Indian 
trail, there being no roads in the locality at 
that time. He found a large basin filled with 
water, and from appearances around it judged 
it to be a place of resort for the Indians for 
bathing purposes. 

This was, perhaps, the first watering place 
in the United States visited by the " pale 
faces" over a hundred years ago. It is often 
call(Kl " Monte Poole." The mercury in the 
thermometer alwaj^s standing at ^2^' , a tem- 
perature suitable f()r bathing at all times. It 
is said that one of the t?arly settlers once ri- 
ding by a spring stopped to water his horse, 



26 



'Ne^jv Lebanon. 



and sticking his rude whip into the soft earth, 
rode off forgetting it, from which impromptu 
planting, sprang the gigantic button-wood 
tree which stands near the spring. Captain 
Hitchcock camped several days at the spring, 
and received great relief from the use of its 
waters. A few j^ears after, he sold his com- 
mission and returned as a resident to New 
Lebanon, where he died, leaving a daughter, 
from whom descended one of our old and 
highly esteemed citizens, Nathaniel Nichols. 
Among later settlers was a Rev. Mr. Ken- 
dall, who first came here from Canada on 
the trail of the Indians, to whom he had 
gone as missionary. He afterwards dwelt in 
the valley, where his descendants still abide, 
and carry on extensive business in the manu- 
facture of barometers and thermometers. 

In this beautiful valley is the great medicine 
manufactory of Messrs. Tilden, unsurpassed 
by any in the country. Farther information 
may be obtained by visiting the establish- 
ment, where the kindest attention is bestowed 
upon the visitor. 

A short distance from Messrs. Tilden & Co. 
is the celebrated Barometer and Thermometer 
manufactory of Mr. John Kendall, established 
many years ago. His Barometers and Ther- 



New Lebanon. 27 



mooieters are known in every quarter of the 
globe. A very pleasant hour can be spent 
here examining the yjrocess of manufacturing. 
About 1760 a house was erected near the 
Springs, and was doubtless the first one built 
in what is now called New Lebanon. This 
part of the town up to 1780 was considered a 
part of Massachusetts. Much difficulty ex- 
isted at an early day between New York and 
the New England States in regard to their 
common boundary line. New York, indeed, 
originally claimed the Connecticut river as its 
eastern boundary. The General Court of 
Massachusetts made grants of land after the 
settlement of Pittsfield, extending nearly to 
the road which passes the dwelling of Dr. 
Bates ; and still farther northward, an old 
road formerly existed and can still be traced 
through an orchard now owned by the heirs 
of Naomi Clark, which was once considered 
to be on the line between the two states. The 
line was established in 1786, though not with- 
out a great deal of trouble and a disagreeable 
law suit. An anecdote was current in early 
times that a man named Wadhams, (one of 
the early settlers,) after the Commissioners 
had fixed the state line, found his dwelling to 
be about four rods within the State of Massa- 



28 New Lebanon. 



chusetts. Accordingly a dsij or two after, he 
called his neighbors together with their teams 
and hitching the latter to the building, he 
moved it over the line into the State of New 
York. This building stood on the ground 
now occupied by the house of Elijah Bagg. 

The first frame house in the town of Cana- 
an (of which Lebanon was formerly a part, 
and was then called King's district,) was 
erected by William Ga}- on tlie liill near the 
Shaker grist mill. The second was built b}^ 
Selah x\bbot, near the Presbyterian Church. 

The first church in the town of New Leba- 
non was erected nearly opposite Mott Cem- 
etery, on land now owned by the Gillets. It 
was constructed of logs, and its worshippers 
were of the Presbyterian order. 

New Lebanon claims the honor of having 
been first in instructing its Delegates in Con- 
gress to adopt a Declaration of Independence. 
Mechlenburg, N. C, had previously declared 
itself absolved from its allegiance to Great 
Britain. 

A company was raised in the town of Ca- 
naan which was in service during the revolu- 
tionary war. The descendants of some who 
served still reside among us as our best citi- 
zens. Chancellor R. Livingston was appointed 



New Lebanon. 29 



delegate frum this section to the Provincial 
CongTess, and he was one of the committee 
appointed to prepare the Dechiration of Inde- 
pendence. It was he who supplied Robert 
Fulton with means for developing the steam- 
boat. At the time of the battle of Bennington, 
Vt., April 10, IIIQ, two brothers, (ances- 
tors of Hon. R. F. Gillett,) who happened to 
be, at the time, working near the top of the 
''west hill," distinctly heard the booming of 
the cannon, although they were a hundred 
miles distant from the scene of action. 

The valley of New Lebanon is surrounded 
on all sides by mountains, which seem to shut 
out all the world beyond. From some of the 
summits may be obtained enchanting views of 
the valley and of the regioJi beyond it. From 
''west hill" Mount Lebanon Is distinctly visi- 
ble. Its pleasant village clustered among the 
hills, forms a sort of city by itself. Here are 
the head-quarters of Shakerism in the United 
States. " Gilbert hill " is most frequently 
visited, where the finest views of the sur- 
rounding country are sought. From its sum- 
mit the whole village is distinctly seen, and 
seems so diniinutive that it has been comi^ared 
to "fairy land teeming with life." From one 
of its southern points, in clear weather, boats 



30 New Lebanon. 



have been seen on the Hudson river, and, still 

beyond, the Catskill mountains, lifting their 

blue crests against the sky, which any but a 

close observer would mistake perhaps for 

clouds hovering about the horizon. Of such 

a scene the beautiful words of William Morris 

m-ay be quoted as fitly descriptive : 

"As down into the vale he gazed 
And held his breath as if amazed 
By all its loveliness ; 
For as the sun its depths did bless, 
It lighted up from side to side, 
A close shut valley, nothing wide 
But ever full of all things fair." 

The historian Bancroft once said with more 
force than elegance, perhaps : '' New Leba- 
non is the most beautiful valley on the top of 
the earth." 

The state of the country one hundred and 
fifty years agoj was strikingly different from 
its present aspect. Then it was a vast swamp 
completely covered with large pine trees, 
rendering it well nigh impassable. The Indi- 
ans travelled across the mountain tops, but 
seldom venturing far into the wilderness of 
pines. The population fifty years ago was 
estimated to exceed greatly the present num- 
ber of inhabitants. At that time the people 
had begun to remove some of the pine trees 
from the edge of the forests, and to build 



New Lebanon. 31 



nearer the foot of the mountains. After a 
time they left the heights altogether and set- 
tled in the valley. 

" Wyomanock Seminary/' the individual 
enterprise of Miss E. C. Hatch, was estab- 
lished about 1858, and incorporated in 1865 
by the legislature of New York. The first 
small building was greatly enlarged in 1867, 
and the whole destroyed by fire January 6, 
1869, since which time the school has found 
pleasant quarters in the old Tilden mansion, 
near the church. The beneficial efi'ect of this 
Institution is seen far and near upon those 
preparing for, or entering upon, the busy 
scenes of life. The influence of Miss Hatch 
has extended over the whole country, and she 
is highly esteemed for the increasing efforts 
which she has put forth to promote the well 
being of those placed under her care. Thro' 
her kindness and that of our good " Saint 
Wyomanock, "many acknowledge with grate- 
ful hearts, advantages received from those 
whose motto is, ''Do unto others as you 
would that others should do unto you." 
Many also remember the care with which 
they have been watched over by Miss Hatch 
when compelled, by sickness, to relinquish 
i school duties for a time. 



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